Monkeys, Mio, and Getting Through the First Month

I am back at the provincial house for our Peace Corps NW province meeting this weekend and will stay through the first part of next week in order to renew our visas. Our work permits should come in soon, but for now we continue making trips every four weeks into the capital for visa extensions. My last two weeks have been challenging and extremely busy. I’ve been much more “movious” (a slang word the villagers use to describe our frequent trips) than I anticipated, but I’m starting to get a better scope of the enormous amount of work there is to be done in my area. (More on this later in the week.)

I’m also really starting to settle in. The first day I arrived back at site, I biked 66k round trip to go pick up a kitty and bring her back to my house. I needed to install a mouse avenger in my hut to exterminate the family that had settled in nest inside my wall. Her all out war against the rodents was pretty disgusting—the carnage was splattered in clumps on my floor—but now I’m much less bothered by the pattering of feet and the clanking of my things in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, she is not as excited about chasing frogs and a family of frogs has moved into the space the mice once occupied. The frogs, however, are not as likely to destroy my belongings, so even though I sometimes feel like I’m experiencing a plague of Biblical proportions, I am not so afraid of shredded clothes and papers. Now if I could only find a way to destroy the termites who like to tunnel my walls and my wooden porta-potty seat in the latrine, I’d be living in a bwana house!

The cat and I are excellent companions. I named her “Mio,” which is short for “Hermione” since I’ve undertaken a reread of the Harry Potter novels before the next book comes out in July. She’s a bit temperamental, incredibly brave at chasing things a hundred times her size, and an affection hog, but I like being a bit more focused on taking care of someone/something else when I’m feeling lonely rather than just sitting in my house after dark thinking.

Because having too much time alone to think can end up being really depressing.

The kids who live around my house are equally scared and fascinated by the cat. They will scream and run if she tries to rub up against them for a good petting. It’s interesting to me that the children are picking up English faster than I am Ki Kaonde just by listening to me talk to the cat or to myself for that matter. The other day when one of the little girls had flown half way across the yard screaming after Mio surprised her under her stool, the kids took up the chant, “Iz ok. Iz ok. Keety, Keety, Keety.” I hadn’t even realized that I say this every time the kids and the cats encounter one another as I try to reassure the children while chasing the startled cat around the yard. If the cat doesn't come home by dark, the kids will scatter around the village howling "Mio, Mio, Mio, here keety." One of the littlest girls gets confused and will call "kissemee, kissemee," which is the Ki Kaonde word for "family."

In the past two weeks, I’ve ended up with small dinner guests frequently. I have to be very cautious about the exchange of goods with my villagers as I live on a very low income and want to establish a firm precedent that I'm not a bank or an NGO in myself, but since I always cook far more than I can eat myself, and the kids near my house are often hungry, I share my meals with whoever might be in my yard. I have no way to refrigerate left-overs and I can’t leave much out without attracting an enormous amount of ants. The kiddos absolutely love pancakes and so I’ve started making every kind of pancake I can think of on the brazier. Potato pancakes, oatmeal pancakes, banana pancakes, and standard breakfast pancakes. They are also huge fans of cinnamon oatmeal and creamed greens, which I eat a lot. In fact, I think more about nutrition when I'm feeding them because I know how desperately they need the nutrients. The family I live near have started including me on their harvest give-aways in return and I’ve received lots of ground nuts (peanuts), eggs, cooked pumpkin, a whole pumpkin, and sweet potatoes. It’s great. I really dislike cooking for myself and this has given me a way to connect with my adopted family.

My favorite story from the past two weeks also has to do with food. My friend Heather was cycling to visit me and stopped off to buy some bananas on the side of the road. The kids selling the bananas also had a little monkey they offered to sell her for ten pin (roughly $2.50). Heather was really intrigued by the offer, because who gets offered a monkey these days? She tried to ask the children what the monkey ate, but in the language confusion she realized the kids were telling her what she could eat as relish with the monkey. Heather finally refused the offer knowing that the animal could carry disease and might eat her cat—my cat’s neurotic sister—and she would not be able to properly care for it. Still, she finally saw wildlife in her area!

I have much more to write, but I want to attempt to get back to the provincial house fairly early this morning in order to assist with the great Cleaning Effort all the volunteers are undertaking today. Sharing one average sized house with forty people can be challanging and messy! I will probably be checking mail daily until Wednesday and am available on the land line at the house if you have gotten a calling card for Zambia.

I miss you all and think of you often!